


Sweet Nothing and Some Dates

by HalcyonTerror



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Pre Strex, Secret Santa 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28563774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalcyonTerror/pseuds/HalcyonTerror
Summary: A quiet evening in a normally bustling radio station, with work to be done completed and a conversation to be had.
Kudos: 2





	Sweet Nothing and Some Dates

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Secret Santa gift I wrote for a server member. As they have received the pdf file, I wanted to post this here.
> 
> It never had a name before ^^

Kevin had left the station early, citing ‘a hot date’ as the reason. Knowing her boss, he would be primping for hours, not that he really needed to; Vanessa was pretty sure she knew who he was going out with; he was so gone over Kevin…She shook her head in fond amusement over the romantic exploits and obliviousness of Kevin, in a way only a friend could, and returned to her work. She was almost done; if she finished in time she could- one more signature- there, finished.

A smile crossed Vanessa’s lips; she flicked a loose strand of hair from her face. A pile of papers, transcripts from today's show and planned advertisements for tomorrow’s show were stacked upon her desks, ready to be delivered to the community and culture department for coordination. She sighed deeply, to think of romantic exploits and oblivious idiots and not mention her own, dear, Daniel; she must be slipping.  
Vanessa’s smile turned wry, twisted in reflection. He wasn’t her own, not yet. She was working on it, it just happened that Daniel went beyond Kevin levels of obliviousness and she hadn’t figured out quite how to grab his attention. Well, no, scratch that; she knew how to grab Daniel’s attention, keeping it was a different story. Vanessa stood and arched, stretching out and hearing her spine pop. A satisfied sigh later, and she bent to gather tomorrow’s work and today's transcripts, two tidy piles of paper neatly placed in two separate files, ready for delivery. Her heart kicked in her chest, a giddy smile flew to her lips. Now for one of her favourite parts of the day, visiting the CnC office. Dear Daniel, such a nerd, but goodness weren’t they all; Daniel would likely be working late as well, Vanessa thought as she strolled through the station, a hitch in her gait as though she wanted to skip, which she did! Interactions with Daniel often left her feeling bubbly, like a cold glass of soda on a summer day.

Daniel did not glance up from his work as she entered his office; he was so diligent in his duties, so passionate about their community, it was kind of hot, actually. Definitely one of her favourite things, watching Daniel’s eyes light up as he spoke with boundless enthusiasm, expounding upon the history of Desert Bluffs - her heart pounded against her ribs, butterflies racing through Vanessa’s stomach. Daniel gave her so many feelings just by virtue of being Daniel.

“Evening Daniel! Kevin’s out for the night, something about a hot date, so it’s just you and I. I have the transcripts from today’s show ready to go, I just need your input on the CnC section. I also have some notes on how tomorrow’s show should go.” She has more she wants to talk about, but Vanessa came to his office somewhat late, in hopes that Daniel would agree to coffee, instead of chatting in the office.

“Ah, Vanessa! Just the woman I wanted to speak to!” Daniel greets her when he looks up, an enthusiastic smile on his face.

“Oh, yeah?” She flushes, grin on her lips.

“Indeed!” Daniel leans forward, looking incredibly excited, “The Desert Bluffs Cacti High School is hosting a community wide festival! Apparently, they need to raise money for a trip into our sister city, Night Vale; the event is going to be huge and I get to cover it. I was promised an accompanying journalist; they said I could pick! Would you like to come with me?”

That was a lot of a run on sentence to unpack. Was she just asked on a date? Did it count as a date if it was work? Maybe not; but Daniel had definitely picked her, specially. The butterflies in her stomach twirled, Vanessa’s smile turning shy.

“I’d love that, Daniel. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.”

Was it possible for that exuberant smile to grow wider still; evidently so, Vanessa felt warm at the idea she was making Daniel so happy just spending time with him. Speaking of which, “Hey - ah.”

Daniel’s gaze was on her in an instant, “Yes, Vanessa?”

“Well I was wondering,” Nerves left her gut churning, breath caught on a sharp skype of anticipation; Vanessa willed her heartbeat to a speed verging on healthy. Was she shaking? Why was this so difficult, Vanessa had asked out and been asked out by people before and this felt different, higher stakes, maybe. She still needed to finish her question; Daniel’s gaze was quite concerned now.

“You know you can tell me anything, Vanessa.” He said gently, hesitantly getting up from his seat and crossing the room to touch her shoulder. “I’m here for you.”

“It’s nothing bad, I promise!” She giggled, her hand grasping his and squeezing affectionately. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He sighed in relief, “as long as you’re okay, it’s fine. So what were you wondering about?”

“Ah.” Well that was an intelligent remark to make. She took a deep steadying breath, her cheeks feeling like they were on fire. “I was wondering, if you’d want to go out with me, maybe for coffee after work?”

Daniel lit up, a brilliant smile on his face. He hadn’t dropped his hand from her shoulder; he used that grip now to pull her into a hug, an arm wrapping loosely around her.

“That sounds like it would be wonderful.”

“Oh, really? I’m glad.” She returned the hug, snuggling into his embrace; Daniel was warm and she felt safe here, hugging this wonderful man. It looked like she’d be the one skiving off work some night soon. Vanessa giggled; it was a good thing Kevin owed her. Daniel was looking at her questioningly, and Vanessa waved it off. “Just thinking how lucky I am, and that Kevin and I will be swapping places some night soon.”

“I believe I am the fortunate one.” He let her go all too soon, leaving her bereft of his warmth. “Should we go out this Saturday, after the Friday rush?” Fridays were always a nightmare, no one was allowed to skive off on Friday, there was too much to do. More to the point, Friday was two days from now; meaning there was ample time to get ready.

“Saturday sounds perfect. I’m looking forward to it already.” She bounced on her toes to kiss him on his cheek and walked away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Daniel watched her walk away, a smile on his blushing face, hand touching his cheek with reverence. “Til tomorrow, Vanessa.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
